When does a single woman need a surrogate instead of IVF?
IVF creates embryos. It does not solve a problem with carrying a pregnancy. If you can carry safely, IVF with your own eggs or donor eggs and donor sperm, followed by a transfer to your own uterus, is usually the first route. A gestational surrogate makes sense when carrying is the problem.
Most single women who choose surrogacy do so for a medical reason:
- Absent or damaged uterus. You were born without a uterus, had a hysterectomy, or have scarring that prevents implantation.
- Repeated implantation failure. Good-quality embryos have been transferred several times without a pregnancy.
- Recurrent pregnancy loss. Pregnancies have started but have not continued.
- A condition that makes pregnancy unsafe. For example, serious heart or kidney disease, or a treatment that cannot be paused for nine months.
Your reproductive endocrinologist decides whether surrogacy is medically indicated. PLS works with single intended parents on the same terms as couples: the same screening, escrow and agreement standards.
In gestational surrogacy, the surrogate carries an embryo created by IVF and has no genetic link to the child.
Own eggs or donor eggs: how do you decide?
The deciding factor is usually your egg quality, which your clinic estimates from your age, your bloodwork and an ultrasound count of resting follicles. Your clinic gives you a recommendation. Then it is your decision.
Your own eggs. Your child is genetically yours. You go through ovarian stimulation and an egg retrieval, and the eggs are fertilized with donor sperm. Add 2 to 3 months for that retrieval cycle before the surrogate's transfer. If your clinic expects a low yield, it may suggest more than one retrieval to bank enough embryos.
Donor eggs. Eggs come from a screened egg donor, usually in her twenties, which raises the chance of chromosomally normal embryos. Your child is not genetically related to you. You do not go through stimulation yourself. PLS runs egg donor matching as well as surrogacy, so the donor search and the surrogate search can run at the same time. See the egg donor program.
Eggs or embryos you already have. Frozen eggs are thawed and fertilized with donor sperm. Existing embryos can be shipped to the surrogate's clinic.
How does donor sperm selection work?
You choose donor sperm from a licensed sperm bank, and your clinic handles the order and shipment. Sperm bank fees are paid to the bank directly.
What to look for is similar to choosing an egg donor:
- Screening. Sperm banks test donors for infectious diseases under FDA donor eligibility rules and quarantine samples before release.
- Genetic carrier screening. The sperm donor's panel should match the egg source's panel. That means your own carrier screening if you use your eggs, or the egg donor's if you use donor eggs. A genetic counselor compares the two reports.
- Identity. Banks offer anonymous donors and identity-release donors, whose identity can be given to your child at adulthood. Many families now choose identity-release.
- Number of vials. If you want more than one child from the same donor, ask how many vials to buy now. Popular donors sell out.
What are the steps from signing to birth?
The journey typically takes 18 to 24 months from signing to birth.
- Consultation and signing. You meet with Nancy Block, RN, who founded PLS in 2017 and personally runs matching. You agree on a plan and sign.
- Escrow. You fund an independent licensed escrow agent: $10,000 at match and the balance before the surrogate starts medications. PLS never holds your funds. You may choose your own escrow company.
- Embryos. Your clinic runs your retrieval or the egg donor's cycle, fertilizes with donor sperm, and freezes the embryos. This runs while PLS searches for your surrogate.
- Surrogate match. About 9 months from signing to surrogate introduction today; PLS's target is 6 months or fewer. You are introduced only to surrogates who have said they are open to single intended parents.
- Legal and medical foundations, 1 to 2 months. You and the surrogate each have your own attorney. Your clinic completes her medical screening.
- Medical cycle and transfer, 2 to 3 months, ending in a frozen embryo transfer. The pregnancy test is 9 to 11 days after transfer.
- Pregnancy, parentage and birth. Your attorney files for parentage during the pregnancy, and PLS prepares a birth plan with you, the surrogate and the hospital.
What does surrogacy cost a single woman?
Surrogacy for a single woman typically costs $131,000 to $155,000 before IVF and clinic fees and any new surrogate health insurance. Donor eggs add to that. The site-wide range for a full journey is $150,000 to $210,000 all in, including clinic fees and insurance. For the itemized budget, see surrogacy cost.
| Own eggs plus donor sperm | Donor eggs plus donor sperm | |
|---|---|---|
| Added steps | Your stimulation and retrieval; donor sperm purchase | Egg donor match and donor cycle; donor sperm purchase |
| Added months | 2 to 3 months for your retrieval cycle, usually run while PLS matches you | About 3 to 5 months for the donor phase, usually run while PLS matches you |
| Egg source cost | Your IVF retrieval, billed by your clinic | PLS egg donation program fee $11,000, or $8,500 when combined with a PLS surrogacy journey, plus donor compensation from $10,000, set per match |
| Donor sperm | Paid to the sperm bank | Paid to the sperm bank |
| PLS program fee | $47,500 | Same |
| Surrogate compensation package | Typically $68,000 to $78,000 total, on a $60,000 first-time base (proposed) | Same |
| Third-party costs | $15,300 to $29,000 | Same |
| Surrogate health insurance, if needed | $5,000 to $40,000 | Same |
| Typical total before clinic fees and new insurance | $131,000 to $155,000 | $131,000 to $155,000, plus the egg donor costs above |
Third-party costs cover attorneys for both sides, escrow, the psychological evaluation, background check, insurance review, travel and monitoring. For help with cost, PLS points parents to grants from Gift of Parenthood, the Coalition for Family Building, EMD Serono, FertilityIQ and RESOLVE.
How does legal parentage work for a single mother?
Illinois law does not require intended parents to be married or partnered. The Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005) makes compensated gestational surrogacy agreements enforceable and provides pre-birth parentage, so a single intended mother can be named the sole legal parent before birth. Statute details are reviewed by counsel.
The Equality for Every Family Act, signed in December 2025, removed the earlier requirement that an intended parent contribute an egg or sperm. A single woman using donor eggs and donor sperm can obtain parentage on the same basis as one using her own eggs. It also requires independent counsel for both sides. Statute details are reviewed by counsel.
The law that matters most is the law of the state where the surrogate delivers. PLS places surrogates only in surrogacy-friendly US states, and counsel reviews the surrogate's state before you match. You do not have to live in that state.
A sperm donor from a licensed bank, under the bank's standard agreement, has no parental rights or duties. If you use a known sperm donor, such as a friend, he needs his own attorney and a written agreement before any sample is used. Reviewed by counsel.
PLS does not employ attorneys. You and your surrogate each retain your own independent reproductive-law attorney, and you pay for both.
How does PLS support single intended mothers?
The same way it supports every intended parent, under one published standard. A single-parent journey is not a separate program with a separate price.
A nurse runs your match. Nancy Block, RN, spent 17 years as an OB/GYN and fertility nurse and staff educator at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Prentice Women's Pavilion. She has run egg donation and surrogacy matching since 2000, so your egg donor, if you need one, and your surrogate are planned together.
A physician reads every surrogate's records. Mark Silverberg, DDS, MD, reads every surrogate candidate's prenatal and delivery records and writes a physician medical summary that goes to your fertility clinic.
You can plan for the birth and feeding. You can be at the birth if your surrogate agrees in the birth plan. If you want to breastfeed, induced lactation is possible with a protocol from your physician. Julie Bendix, MPH, RD, LD, CLC, PLS's registered dietitian and lactation counselor, can advise. See lactation and milk donation.
Age limits come from your clinic. PLS does not set an upper age limit for intended parents. Many fertility clinics do, so ask yours early.
If you have a question before you are ready for a consultation, SurrogacyHotline.com, PLS's sister site, answers surrogacy questions free, usually within 24 to 48 hours. For how PLS works with all single and LGBTQ+ parents, see the LGBTQ+ and single parents guide.
Sources
- Illinois Gestational Surrogacy Act (2005), Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- Equality for Every Family Act, signed December 2025, Illinois General Assembly. Pending review by counsel.
- American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), guidance on gestational carriers and gamete donation.
- US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), donor eligibility rules (21 CFR Part 1271).